Paper
29 July 2010 Gallium nitride photocathodes for imaging photon counters
Author Affiliations +
Abstract
Gallium nitride opaque and semitransparent photocathodes provide high ultraviolet quantum efficiencies from 100 nm to a long wavelength cutoff at ~380 nm. P (Mg) doped GaN photocathode layers ~100 nm thick with a barrier layer of AlN (22 nm) on sapphire substrates also have low out of band response, and are highly robust. Opaque GaN photocathodes are relatively easy to optimize, and consistently provide high quantum efficiency (70% at 120 nm) provided the surface cleaning and activation (Cs) processes are well established. We have used two dimensional photon counting imaging microchannel plate detectors, with an active area of 25 mm diameter, to investigate the imaging characteristics of semitransparent GaN photocathodes. These can be produced with high (20%) efficiency, but the thickness and conductivity of the GaN must be carefully optimized. High spatial resolution of ~50 μm with low intrinsic background (~7 events sec-1 cm-2) and good image uniformity have been achieved. Selectively patterned deposited GaN photocathodes have also been used to allow quick diagnostics of optimization parameters. GaN photocathodes of both types show great promise for future detector applications in ultraviolet Astrophysical instruments.
© (2010) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
Oswald H. W. Siegmund, Jeffrey S. Hull, Anton S. Tremsin, Jason B. McPhate, and Amir M. Dabiran "Gallium nitride photocathodes for imaging photon counters", Proc. SPIE 7732, Space Telescopes and Instrumentation 2010: Ultraviolet to Gamma Ray, 77324T (29 July 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.857863
Lens.org Logo
CITATIONS
Cited by 13 scholarly publications.
Advertisement
Advertisement
RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS
Get copyright permission  Get copyright permission on Copyright Marketplace
KEYWORDS
Gallium nitride

Sensors

Quantum efficiency

Opacity

Microchannel plates

Sapphire

Photon counting

Back to Top